Planning Ahead for Holiday Spending

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) - U.S. household spending often climbs during certain stretches of the year, and the holidays are one of them. Even though the season is still a little ways off, it is not too soon to start preparing.

In this edition of Your Money Matters More, we spoke with a financial counselor from Lutheran Social Services about ways to get ready for holiday expenses.

Rod Lipka says holiday shopping involves more than simply picking out gifts.

“It’s not just, I need to buy presents, I’m traveling, our family is traveling into town, or I’m hosting, and everybody’s coming over for food,” Lipka said. “So there’s not one little thing we need to think of, we need to think of all the pieces that go along with Christmas, and let’s have a plan for it.”

According to Lipka, the earlier that plan is in place, the easier it is to manage spending during the season. He also says shoppers should think ahead about where to look for the best deals.

“If the goal is we’re going to get the family a big screen TV, we have options, and we know Black Friday is going to be a big event where different businesses use that as a loss leader, lets them in with a really good price on a TV set,” Lipka said. “Whereas if you’re like, hey, I’m buying something for Uncle Bob or for my three-year-old nephews who are going to care more about the box then what’s inside it, we can have a different strategy.”

Lipka also shared a few other places where families may be able to trim costs during the holidays.

“I will often recommend, you know, wrapping paper is wrapping paper. I can buy it when I’m at the mall at a big box store, and I can pay a lot for it,” Lipka said. “I can get the exact same wrapping paper that’s going to get torn open in seconds if I go to a discount store. If maybe that is something, hey, I have a little bit, I’m going to buy that after the holiday sales. So think about the things that really matter.”

You can watch the full conversation with Lipka in this week’s Your Money Matters More. It airs Thursday at 9:30 p.m. and Saturday at 8:30 a.m. Central Time on KELOLAND+.